Reciprocal indirect interactions between Tetranychus urticae and Aphis gossypii mediated by cucumber plant
2018
Nazeri, Mahmood | Allahyari, Hossein | Goldansaz, Hossein
Induced plant responses to herbivory can alter plant quality and influence subsequent interactions with organisms that use that plant as food source. In this study, we conducted several experiments in order to understand whether preference and performance of the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii (Hem: Aphididae) and the spider mite, Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) are affected by the previous herbivory of conspecific or heterospecific species on cucumber plants. Longevity, fecundity and pre-imaginal development time were measured as performance criteria. In addition, we explored whether these effects are local or systemic. In the case of performance experiments, the results varied from negative to neutral depending on the performance criteria, no positive effect was observed in studied interactions. Also, depending on performance criteria, the previous herbivory affected the plant systemically, or locally. Results of preference experiments indicated that mites and aphids prefer to settle and produce offspring on control leaf disc to prevent detrimental effects of the previous herbivory. Spider mites showed a stronger preference than aphids in the detection of induced leaf discs, which resulted in more mites being present and laying more egg on control leaf disc in both local and systemic treatments. Performing both preference and performance experiments, not only reveals the effect of herbivores on each other's mediated by the plant but also reveals more information about the sensitivity of herbivores to change in the quality of their host.
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